In an attempt to get automotive repair shops to wire them money, scammers are telling repair shops that they want to have their car towed to the repair shop, but need the shop to wire them the money for the tow. The scammers then provide the shop with a stolen credit card number and ask them to run the card and then wire some money to another person.
Below is the article as it appeared on the Mail Tribune website.
Scammers target auto repair shops
September 06, 2010
By Vera Westbrook
A variation on a Nigerian wire scam apparently is targeting automobile repair shops in the Medford area. Using a stolen credit card, the scammers say they want to have a car towed to the repair shop, but need the shop to wire money to pay for the towing.
Russ Sanger from Specialized Automotive in Medford said he was confronted with the possible scam after receiving a phone call from what appeared to be a hearing-impaired person using a telecommunication service.
"They give you a credit card number to get a car towed from out of state," Sanger said. "I said I didn’t want to do it. There are a lot of other ways to go about getting it towed."
Kate Medema, spokeswoman from the consumer protection division at the Oregon Attorney General’s office, said her office has heard of such scams but has received no reports confirming any cases in Oregon.
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